self love Archives — Kayla M Douglas

21Dec 2021 by Kayla No Comments

Letting Go of Old Versions of Me

Letting go of the old version of me is necessary before I can move into a new identity. Sometimes the characteristics that used to be serving me, no longer are. When I realize that, I want to move away from those attributes as quickly as possible and I need a clear way to do so. Today I realized I was at that point. I wrote an epitaph for myself and played some melancholy music for my funeral of my former self and decided to step into a new version of myself. This is very fitting for the solstice today. My description of old self is as follows: Letting go Mentally Kayla was always focused on the worst-case scenario. She wanted to be prepared for the worst so she wouldn't feel…

20Nov 2021 by Kayla No Comments

Is Narcolepsy Treatable Without Medication

Narcolepsy

There is a long answer and a short answer to the question, "Is Narcolepsy treatable without medication"? The short answer is that yes, it can be treated in many ways without medicine. However, this depends on the results you are looking for. There may be multiple different "treatments" you will want to combine to get the desired results. Even if you do take medication for narcolepsy, you can combine that with additional treatments so you get the best results possible. (more…)

04Aug 2021 by Kayla No Comments

Diet for Narcolepsy – With a secret ingredient

Diet

I've talked plenty about using diet for narcolepsy, and specifically the keto diet. But recently I realized I have been missing the whole point! (more…)

21Jun 2021 by Kayla 2 Comments

Being Vulnerable with Narcolepsy Works

Mindset

It's hard not to look at being vulnerable as a bad thing, but today I'm here to tell you that being vulnerable with narcolepsy works wonders. I have gained so much by daring to be vulnerable, and today I am taking that to a new level. Today, I am committing to using this space for more raw, unedited, real writing about what I'm experiencing on a day-to-day basis. (more…)

31Jan 2020 by Kayla No Comments

I Am Enough, And So Are You

Mindset

Image from Redbubble Reminding myself that I am enough is a lifelong process. I write it on my mirror, put it on the background of my phone, and set reminders to keep reinforcing this belief. Recently I even wrote a poem about it on a day when I was having doubts. If you need help remembering that you are enough, keep repeating it. The brain needs repetition. Say it in the mirror, create mantras to repeat when you are struggling. Write your own poem. Here is my poetic reminder to you that you are enough. I am enough I am enougheven on the days when exhaustion keeps me in bed until noonand I don’t have the energy to take a shower I am enoughwith a migraine raging fury in my…

27Jan 2020 by Kayla No Comments

On Being Unf***withable

Mindset

I am consistently hearing people talk about being fuckwithable. Sure, they don't use that word, but they say things like, "You make me so mad! " or "This makes me feel sad. or "I know he is just a guy from Tinder, but I still obsess over why he hasn't texted me in 3 hours!" In many cases, people are handing over control of their emotions to other human beings. When you say, "you make me feel.." you are giving power to someone else, whether you realize it or not. That means you have the option to take back the control. In the case of someone not calling us back, we know rationally that the reaction is silly. But maybe we don't feel in control of changing it. There are…

13Jan 2020 by Kayla No Comments

Identifying Negative Self-Talk

Mindset

I used to have trouble deciphering what "negative self-talk" meant and how to determine what was constructive and what was not. In the beginning, I only pulled out the really major negative messages with words like stupid, lazy, worthless, etc. ⁠I had no idea that there was more to negative self-talk than these obvious problems. Why Does Negative Self-Talk Matter? This whole idea stems from the principle that we all spend most of our time with ourselves. Therefore, a lot of time we are talking to ourselves even if it's not verbal, it is inside our heads. So it's important to pay attention to what we are saying to ourselves. On one hand, we have to tell ourselves what we need to work on to stay motivated and to grow.…

31Dec 2019 by Kayla No Comments

Protecting My Energy

Mindset

Learning to empower instead of enabling The phone rings, and I feel obligated to answer. Cindy, a new acquaintance, is hysterical on the other end. I drop everything I’m doing to rush to her apartment. I need to make sure the assignment she was working on is still somewhere on her computer. The deadline is tomorrow, and she doesn’t know what happened to it. Luckily, I’m a computer whiz and must have bragged about it while making small talk the first time I met Cindy. After rushing out of my house to put out the fire, I return home exhausted. Her nervous energy and panic were all it took to drain my reserves, and even though I had my own paper to write, I curl up on the couch for a recharge nap.…

23Dec 2019 by Kayla No Comments

Are you authentic?

Mindset

And what does it mean? “Who are you?” I was asked that question in an interview on Monday. I fumbled a lot because I have this definition of WHO I am, but I didn’t feel like it was the answer my interviewer was looking for. What did I say? I answered that I was a life coach, an American living in Myanmar, a former ESL teacher, and a person with narcolepsy and chronic migraine. Why? The interview was for a volunteer position with the Migraine World Summit, so that’s what seemed relevant. We’ve been trained to show the sides of us that make us most qualified for a position in life, to get the job. Even though I know better, my training kicked in, and I said what I had…

17Dec 2019 by Kayla No Comments

Accepting the Changes to My Sexual Identity

Personal Story

And being okay if others don't Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash Kisses scatter across my long, pale, leg as I hurriedly tell my friend I will have to call her back at another time. His dark hair tickles my thigh as he moves lower, kissing me next to my knee. I feel so ticklish and giggly and 100% completely in love with this man. But there are things I miss about my identity when I was dating a woman. Being LGBTQ I miss my individuality. I miss being recognized as an LGBTQ person by outsiders, even if I never felt accepted by the community. It may be shallow but know its true because every chance I get, I slip it into conversations. “You know, before I met my current partner, I was…

13Dec 2019 by Kayla No Comments

Five Ways to Respond to Rude Comments

life hacks

No one can reject you without your permission We all want to be more connected; genetically we are programmed to seek connection because in our more primitive forms we needed our tribe or group for survival. But when someone rejects you, you need to know how to respond to rude comments in order to keep your self-esteem in tact. Long ago, rejection meant being shunned, banned, or excommunicated. This type of punishment was worse than death. Our bodies are still programmed to respond to rejection negatively, even though we don’t require our peers’ help with basic needs like food, water, or shelter and security anymore. That explains why we feel our adrenaline spiking when we face rejection. Our hearts beat faster, and we feel our pulse quickening. In those moments,…

03May 2019 by Kayla No Comments

Unconditional Positive Regard

Mindset

You may know about unconditional love, but have you heard of unconditional positive regard? When you wake up in the morning, do you ever think… “I really want to make some people mad today! I’m going to piss them off, hurt their feelings, and really make them feel awful.” I doubt it. I honestly doubt I know anyone that wakes up and thinks that. Sure, I’m not going to argue that there are people like that who exist, but in the circle of people that I interact with, I haven’t seen them. So why is it that we all come across situations where we do piss people off? We do hurt people’s feelings, even when it's not our intention. Often it feels like it's out of our control. [caption…

16Apr 2019 by Kayla No Comments

Choosing Life

Personal Story

Choosing life didn't even feel like an option when I was depressed... One morning I heard my alarm ringing. I buried my head under the pillow, like covering my head in cotton would make the day dissipate. My roommate threw a book at my legs to get my attention. I regretted that the sound was also disturbing her rest, so I sat up and turned it off. As I hunkered there below the ceiling taking shallow breaths, exasperated before even leaving my lofted bed, I vowed to myself this wouldn’t go on much longer. I was 18 years old, and for the previous months, I had been applying to colleges. But I didn’t see myself [caption id="attachment_976" align="alignright" width="225"] This was me in April 2010[/caption] there. I didn’t see myself…

23Mar 2019 by Kayla 2 Comments

Letter From a Person Living with Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy, Personal Story

Dear friend, Do you remember that time we had big plans to do something amazing on the weekend? I told you at the last minute that I really wanted to go but I just couldn’t do it. Well, I remember it. Because it was hard for me to make the decision to take care of myself instead of going to do something fun that I was really looking forward to. What did I do that day? Instead, I spent the day making sure I had healthy food lined up for the week. As part of my self-care routine, I took a few short controlled naps. Focused on physical and mental health, I drank a gallon of water and meditated. I arranged my calendar for the week so I would not…

27Feb 2019 by Kayla No Comments

How to Treat Narcolepsy

Diet, Lifestyle, Narcolepsy

There are a million resources out there that will tell you how to treat narcolepsy medically including various stimulants, or other medications like Baclofen, or Xyrem. There are also some new medications being tested that sound promising, but I don't have any personal experience with those. For some people, when they receive the right combination of medications, their narcolepsy is managed well and they go on with their life, which is amazing. But for many of us, the medications alone don’t give us the results we desire. Physically our bodies are all different and mentally we are all in different places as well. So, it makes sense we all need different things to treat narcolepsy symptoms. (more…)